The talented musician, a key member of the innovative 1980s electronic music band Soft Cell, has passed away at the age of 66.
Alongside singer Marc Almond, the team scored a worldwide hit with their cover of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love in the mid-80s, and their debut album Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is regarded as a seminal work of electronic music.
He later formed the innovative electronic act The Grid, who achieved popular acclaim with their 1994 single Swamp Thing.
Ball died peacefully in his rest at his home in London on Wednesday 22 October, just weeks after performing a featured performance with Soft Cell at the Rewind music event in Henley-on-Thames.
Recent Health Challenges
During that performance, Ball appeared in a wheelchair, as he had for the previous couple of years, after a spate of health issues.
"I ended up damage myself significantly," he stated in 2023. "I broke lower vertebrae in my back and fractured about five ribs and fractured my arm."
After contracting pneumonia and suffering from sepsis, he was placed in an induced coma and stayed in the hospital for half a year.
However, he had been in "high spirits emotionally" during the summer, as he was developing a new album with Almond, titled the upcoming Danceteria, which is scheduled for release in the coming year.
"He was focused and very pleased with the latest project that we literally finished only a short time ago," said the singer in a tribute.
"It's so sad as next year was all set to be such an uplifting time for him, and I take some solace from the knowledge that he listened to the finished record and felt that it was a great piece of work."
Heartfelt Messages
Almond described his collaborator as "a wonderfully brilliant musical genius", adding: "He was the core essence of Soft Cell and I'm very proud of our body of work.
"Thank you Dave for being an immense part of my existence and for the songs you gave me. I couldn't be where I am without you."
His Grid bandmate from The Grid, also paid tribute, recalling Ball's "constant humor" and "unwavering friendship".
"Forming a partnership with someone is different from joining a band, the bond is incredibly close," he added.
"That's how it was with us. We went through so many remarkable, incredible, memorable moments as a team. Many thanks, Dave."
Formative Years
Born into a one-parent family in Chester in the late 50s, Ball was put up for adoption when he was 18 months old.
He was raised in the seaside town with his new family his caregivers, who altered his first name from his birth name to David, alongside his younger sister Susan, who was similarly welcomed.
He encountered Almond at an art college in the late 70s, where they were both studying art. Inspired by a shared love of a music genre, they formed Soft Cell the very year, and quickly recorded an EP.
Creative Collaboration
The pair were an distinctive combination: Ball was the reserved technician, bent over his keyboard, while Almond was a flamboyant performer, all glitter and makeup; but they achieved a unique creative synergy.
Ball had developed a interest with synthesizers after watching the band Kraftwerk appear on BBC science show Tomorrow's World, and started to combine dark electronica to the soaring melodies Almond was writing.
Tainted Love became the UK's second biggest-selling song of the early 80s, selling 21 million units worldwide. Alongside successful tracks by Gary Numan, Human League and electronic acts, it contributed to paved the path for the synth-pop sound of the 80s.
The track was also featured on their full-length debut, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret, which produced two further high-charting hits: Bedsitter and Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.
They followed the album up with the stand-alone single, Torch, which peaked at number two in 1982.
Professional Journey
Success had its benefits. "I loved being able to afford my first home, having money and exploring, which makes me sound like a Miss World," Ball recently shared with a music magazine.
But it also presented problems. "Newfound wealth allowed we could afford substances to alleviate the monotony" of press appearances and television shows, Ball said.
"I know that's a common saying, but it's a truism for a good reason, because it works for so many bands."
During the party-filled existence, the pair were also growing distant, but they managed to create a follow-up classic album - the wayward, edgy and aptly-titled The Art Of Falling Apart.
They released another LP, 1984's This Last Night In Sodom, before ending the group to focus on other projects.
Almond went on to have a successful individual path, featuring the chart-topping single Something's Got A Hold Of My Heart; while Ball created The Grid, who mixed dance music with ambient pop over a enduring collaboration.
Reunions and Final Projects
Soft Cell came back together in 2001, producing the charting record Cruelty Without Beauty.
After another hiatus, they returned in recent years, issuing the new tracks Northern Lights and Guilty (Cos I Say You Are) before performing what was intended to be a farewell show at the O2 Arena on 30 September, that year.
However, they stayed active, recording their fifth album, Happiness Not Included, during the pandemic Covid lockdown.
Ball lately described the band's new album as a homage to the NYC nightlife they visited while recording their first two albums.
He added that his time in medical care had influenced the band's sound.
"I had strange recollections when I was coming and going of hospital because I was on morphine," he told a music magazine.
"The new songs are a electronic representation of the noises in my mind from that time.
"In parallel, it's about the experiences we had in the 1980s."
The final mixes were finished only days before Ball passed away. It is scheduled for launch in Spring 2026.
